The increase in the influence of Japanese commonersand workers led to the invention of the skill of making tattoos on people’s bodies in Japan. This occurred in the Edo period as the 18th century neared its end.

During those years, the patterns of the tattoos came from traditional Japanese picture books, woodcuts and paintings done with watercolors. The people enduring tattooing would experience a lot of pain as they went through the process, but they anticipated having a permanent beautiful and artistic mark stamped on their bodies. Japanese tattoo art is still experiencing high levels of success and many people widely practice this form of art now.

When the feudal system degenerated as the Edo period neared its end, the common people in Japan formed their own culture. They disregarded all that the traditional morality and ethics wanted them to do and started doing anything that pleased them. Therefore, the art of making tattoos\tattooing became a type of cultural expression to these people who now comprised a new class.

In the formative years of tattoo making, the tattoos that had designs depicting folklore became very popular with the people of Japan. Usually, their traditional tattoos would have images of Chinese lions, dragons, various religious figures and giant snakes. They commonly had the images of the fire god, the lightning gods and Buddha. The artists who performed the tattoos on people used sharp needles to suppress charcoal ink under the skin’s layer.

The artists who did the art of tattooing people during those days were woodblock artists who exchanged their wood carving blades with longer needles. As the years progressed artists started specializing in tattoo art and it became an area of specialization. The traditional name for tattoo art in Japanese is horimino and they gave the tattooing process this name.

The earliest records showing the meeting of tattoo fans was in 1830. It is common to find tattoo conventions in Western countries today but the thing to note is that the Japanese hosted these large meetings more than one hundred and fifty years ago. This shows that Japanese tattoo art has a rich and long history.

Today, you can find the collection of tattoo designs, which people thought popular during the Meiji, Shohwa and Edo eras in Japan. You can view these collections in the classic book called Bunshin Hyakushi. The year of compilation of this book was 1936 and it has in the different tattoo designs of past years. The other important book where you can source the details of traditional Japanese tattoos is the book named One Hundred Tattoo Figures and Stories.

This book has a comprehensive list of detailed images of the tattoos made by well-known Japanese tattoo artists who practiced their works in the Edo period. During this era, many people in Japan were strongly interested in tattoos.

The opinions of the Japanese on tattoo art have changed drastically as the years passed. During the first few years of tattoo art, they considered it as an ignoble practice. They thought of it as possessing other negative meanings. However, in our day, people all over the world think of tattoos as a way of being fashionable apart from conservative Japanese families who still seem to think of the tattoos negatively.

Japanese turtle tattoo designs draw their inspiration from the kanji script. For further reading on Japanese style tattoos follow the hyperlink.

Tags: Tattoos